Facebook's gotta change

Emily Wilde

Many teens use the popular social network site Facebook on a daily basis to communicate with others and post things about their lives.

How happy are we with how Facebook works? I wanted to find out what other teens thought, so I asked this question: If you could change anything about Facebook, what would it be?

Here’s what some Top of Utah teens had to say.

Liv Andrus, a junior at Ogden High School, says, “If I could change anything about Facebook it would be the amount of ‘pages’ it shows on my newsfeed. All those pages I liked back in seventh grade — the stupid ones, like ‘chocolate cake’ and ‘water slides’ — have suddenly started blowing up my newsfeed with pictures and ads. They usually end up taking more space than my friends’ posts, which is really what I want to read.”

“I would change all the ads and stuff that comes up on the side of the screen,” agreed Jordan Thornblad, a sophomore at Viewmont High. “I’m also not a huge fan of all the negativity that seems to show up on the comments. If I could change that I would.”

Ethan Sabin, a sophomore at Roy High School, also says, “I would change it so you could stop seeing things you weren’t interested in like vines or political things.”

A fresh look

The topic of privacy on Facebook is a concern for many.

Karissa Wang, a NUAMES sophomore, says she wishes that you couldn’t be tagged in someone else’s photo without giving your consent.

Weber High School senior Bert Whitt says that he, too, would change how public your information is and how much is it monetized.

“It really does show how anything you post on the Internet will be used one way or another,” he says.

Bailey McCloud, a sophomore at Roy High, would like to make it so you could cancel a message after you had sent it.

Finally, others would change the look of Facebook.

Changing the colors would be a priority for Skyler Vongbandith, a senior at Weber High School.

“It’s just blue and white and gets so boring,” Vongbandith says. “It’s like wearing the same clothes every day!”

Krystal Ruiz, a Weber High junior, says she would change how complicated everything is on the social media site.

“There are tabs within tabs to get to other tabs; it’s just not easy to get around,” Ruiz says. “I would make it all very simple and easy to access.”

Weber High School senior Jordan Bassett wants the number of photos that can be posted to be limited. He explains, “People post their whole life on Facebook — everything and anything.”

Time to log off?

One thing that concerns me personally is how Facebook can have a negative effect on its users. According to a study at Utah Valley University in Orem, Facebook is making people sad. People compare their lives with others based on photos and posts. Sometimes those posts don’t always give the whole story.

UVU’s study was published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, and it found that people who spent less time using social networks and more time socializing in person were happier.

Although I think Facebook serves a purpose and can be beneficial for keeping in touch with friends and family, our happiness and self-esteem shouldn’t come from any social networking site.

So to answer my own question, if I could change Facebook I would install a time limit that forced you to step away from electronic devices to spend more time interacting with the people you care about.

Emily Wilde is a senior at Morgan High School. She’s a cheerleader and enjoys running. Email her at emilywilde@msn.com.